President Andrew Johnson
Born: 29th of December 1808
Died: 31st of July 1875
Political Party: Democrat + National Union
Terms in Office: 15th of April 1865 - 3rd of March 1869
Vice President: N/A (became President in place of Lincoln, whom was assassinated)
Mr. Andrew Johnson deserves a B-. He had the same initiative as Lincoln, but couldn't pull it off with as much... justification.
"Accidental President" Andrew Johnson, was a former senator of Tennessee and was only thrust into the vice presidency because his role in the South, plus his political position. He was a Democrat, therefore, was a kind of representative of the South in Congress. Lincoln perhaps thought this as a good idea, and that the South would then calm down, knowing they that they would have someone high up on the inside. Which, it did not.
"Old Andy" was a dogmatic champion of states' rights and the Constitution. He would do everything to the very letter of the written Constitution. He was intelligent, able, forceful and gifted with homespun honesty. He was greatly devoted to the people and to his duty.
"Andy" Johnson never failed to surprise people. Lincoln was known as being sympathetic towards the South, and many thought that Johnson would ignore this sympathy and order the South into quick reconstruction with whatever force. But, he recognised Lincoln's "10 percent" Reconstruction Plan which surprised a lot of people. This was a very good decision on his part, for it softened peoples' view on their new President, by default. He decided to take the more laid back approach towards the South. All he needed was an oath of allegiance; maybe a similar one that is still used today.
His approach towards the Southerners is taken in a negative way, however, I think that what he did was right. You can't force a whole society of people to change their approach towards another society of people overnight. It's a habit, something that can only be changed over a long period of time and even after that there may be urges to go back into habit. He obviously vetoed the Civil Rights' Act and Freedmen's Bureau, not because of his disliking towards the Black community, but because he felt the South wasn't quite ready to quit the habit. The United States had to develop very quickly in previous years. They had to cut corners where they could and mature at an astonishing speed. Johnson may have wanted to slow this process. What was the rush? There wasn't a threat from the North; the Americans and British had long settles their differences. And there wasn't any threat of a Mexican invasion either. This process was better left with time so that the ties from North to South could be finally bonded instead of scarred. The Black Codes did cause problems for him, for they were the very habits he was trying to gradually break, but at least they weren't as severe as slavery itself.
This is the main reason as to why i award Johnson a low B. He had the right strategy, it was just misinterpreted by outsiders and hence the rebellion groups against him. At least there wasn't any conspiracy theory as to the death of Lincoln, because he would have been in pole position for a good battering, that's for sure.
P.S. I kept writing Andrew Jackson instead of Andrew Johnson, if you find any of these errors, don't fret, just continue with your discussion like you never saw them. Thanks. :)
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. American Pageant : Advanced Placement. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin College Division, 2001.
Born: 29th of December 1808
Died: 31st of July 1875
Political Party: Democrat + National Union
Terms in Office: 15th of April 1865 - 3rd of March 1869
Vice President: N/A (became President in place of Lincoln, whom was assassinated)
Mr. Andrew Johnson deserves a B-. He had the same initiative as Lincoln, but couldn't pull it off with as much... justification.
"Accidental President" Andrew Johnson, was a former senator of Tennessee and was only thrust into the vice presidency because his role in the South, plus his political position. He was a Democrat, therefore, was a kind of representative of the South in Congress. Lincoln perhaps thought this as a good idea, and that the South would then calm down, knowing they that they would have someone high up on the inside. Which, it did not.
"Old Andy" was a dogmatic champion of states' rights and the Constitution. He would do everything to the very letter of the written Constitution. He was intelligent, able, forceful and gifted with homespun honesty. He was greatly devoted to the people and to his duty.
"Andy" Johnson never failed to surprise people. Lincoln was known as being sympathetic towards the South, and many thought that Johnson would ignore this sympathy and order the South into quick reconstruction with whatever force. But, he recognised Lincoln's "10 percent" Reconstruction Plan which surprised a lot of people. This was a very good decision on his part, for it softened peoples' view on their new President, by default. He decided to take the more laid back approach towards the South. All he needed was an oath of allegiance; maybe a similar one that is still used today.
His approach towards the Southerners is taken in a negative way, however, I think that what he did was right. You can't force a whole society of people to change their approach towards another society of people overnight. It's a habit, something that can only be changed over a long period of time and even after that there may be urges to go back into habit. He obviously vetoed the Civil Rights' Act and Freedmen's Bureau, not because of his disliking towards the Black community, but because he felt the South wasn't quite ready to quit the habit. The United States had to develop very quickly in previous years. They had to cut corners where they could and mature at an astonishing speed. Johnson may have wanted to slow this process. What was the rush? There wasn't a threat from the North; the Americans and British had long settles their differences. And there wasn't any threat of a Mexican invasion either. This process was better left with time so that the ties from North to South could be finally bonded instead of scarred. The Black Codes did cause problems for him, for they were the very habits he was trying to gradually break, but at least they weren't as severe as slavery itself.
This is the main reason as to why i award Johnson a low B. He had the right strategy, it was just misinterpreted by outsiders and hence the rebellion groups against him. At least there wasn't any conspiracy theory as to the death of Lincoln, because he would have been in pole position for a good battering, that's for sure.
P.S. I kept writing Andrew Jackson instead of Andrew Johnson, if you find any of these errors, don't fret, just continue with your discussion like you never saw them. Thanks. :)
Bibliography
"Andrew Johnson." The White House. 6 Nov. 2008 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/aj17.html>.
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. American Pageant : Advanced Placement. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin College Division, 2001.